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Archive for the tag “anime”

The Mortal Instruments series(City of Bones, City of Ashes, City of Glass)Novels by Cassandra ClareBuffy-esque urban fantasy with strong romantic elements

There are more books in Cassandra Clare’s The Mortal Instruments, but these three are the original sprawling, wise-cracking, romantic trilogy. The story told in City of Bones, City of Ashes, and City of Glass is dark, fast-paced, and satisfying. It seems to me that anything more would dilute the product (see Wars, Star) but what do I know?

The Premise

Fifteen-year-old Clary Fray thinks demons and supernatural warriors lurk only on the pages of her comic books until the night she sees a bunch of kids kill another kid in a New York City nightclub. When those teenagers turn out to be Shadowhunters—humans with angel blood who protect the world from demonkind—Clary falls headlong into a world teeming with vampires, faeries, werewolves and warlocks. With her mother missing and the scent of demons everywhere, Clary has to ask the Shadowhunters for help. Unfortunately, that includes Jace, a boy her age who “looks a little like an angel and a lot like a jerk.” (That line comes directly from Clare’s own jacket copy. It captures the book’s modern tone perfectly).

The Pain

Cassandra Clare is the quintessential fangirl (if her name sounds vaguely familiar, she is the pen behind the brilliant “Very Secret Diaries” of various Lord of the Rings characters). In The Mortal Instruments, she riffs on everything from anime to Spiderman, and even references her own VSDs. I love that stuff, but unfortunately the fangirling also translates into a little derivativeness in the plot department—especially when it comes to the villain.

And “Clary” as a character name is a little too similar to Clare to avoid feelings of Mary-Sueism.

The Payoff

Romance doesn’t get more impossible or torturous than the chemistry between Jace and Clary. I’m not even sure how Clare pulled it off so well, but she lights the fuse in City of Bones, twists the cord in City of Ashes, and detonates it in City of Glass. After all that, and a satisfying ending to boot, what more is there?

No really, what more is there to fill three whole books?

—Books 4, 5, and 6 in the series are City of Fallen Angels (2011), City of Lost Souls (to be released 2012), and City of Heavenly Fire (to be released 2013). There’s also a movie in the works, featuring actors Lily Collins as Clary and Jamie Campbell Bower as Jace, pictured above.

I wish American television producers would take a cue from their Japanese counterparts when it comes to giving us programs with pre-written, overarching storylines scripted for a set number of seasons. Anyone who endured the amnesiac Battlestar Galactica writers winging their way through 4+ seasons of “what if we did THIS?” knows the pain of seeing a golden cast and premise ruined by writers with a sandbox complex. When I want to watch a TV show with a satisfying beginning, middle, and end, I turn to anime. And when it comes to romance anime, Special A isn’t a bad way to go.

The Premise
Overachieving high school student Hikari dreams of beating her number one rival: Kei, the boy who’s beaten her at everything she’s tried since they were kids. Both Kei and Hikari belong to the “Special A” class, a group made up of the seven best students in their high school (other classes are referred to as A, B, C, etc). Through the Special A’s hijinks and misadventures, Hikari is so busy trying to out-smart, out-race, out-wrestle the unbeatable Kei that she doesn’t see the most important thing: Kei loves her.

The Pain
Any one who’s watched shojo anime knows what to expect: meddling adults, naive heroine, over-the-top explosions, exaggerated reactions and implausible secrets…at least some of it is funny.

The Payoff
This series has charming characters and some truly beautiful artwork. Hikari may not know a thing about love, but she’s pretty kickass otherwise, and it isn’t hard to see why Kei loves her. As for that beginning, middle, and end I mentioned earlier? All right here.